The Wrong Child
by Cheyla
Summary: Harry Potter disappeared after the war. Fifteen years later, there are rumors that his children are attending Hogwarts this year. Unfortunately for John Potter, he's not the son of Harry Potter. Now it's just a matter of making everyone else in the wizarding world understand that he's not related to Harry just because Potter is his surname. It's actually a pretty common name.


**This was something that's been in my head for a few months and I finally got the chance to write it down. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Potter, John."

There had been rumors that Harry Potter had a child starting at Hogwarts this year, fifteen years after the final battle where Voldemort had been defeated. Now it seemed that those rumors were true.

Buzzing broke out around the Great Hall and even those students that tuned out the Sorting started to pay attention.

The back of John Potter's neck reddened as he stepped forward. Everyone's attention was on him and he didn't like it. It was all very well when he received attention for actually _doing_ something but that wasn't the situation. Despite being a muggleborn, John Potter was very aware that the only reason so much attention was focused on him at this moment was because he shared the name with some hero that hadn't been seen for over thirteen years.

As John sat on the creaky three-legged stool, an ancient and musty hat was placed on his head and instantly covered his eyes.

 _A Potter, hm? Yet not the one that everyone seems to think you are._

John jumped at the voice in his ears and glared up at the brim of his hat. Is that all anyone would ever notice? The name and nothing more? Would he be forced to spend all seven years here trying to prove to others that he wasn't related to Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the Man-Who-Defeated-Voldemort?

 _So, willing to prove who you are and aren't. Also willing to use your abilities to set yourself apart and ahead of everyone else, I see. This decision will be an easy one. You'd be best in—_

"SLYTHERIN!"

John yanked the hat off his head and handed it to the professor calling up the first years to be Sorted before heading toward a table covered in silver and green, where students were clapping politely. The rest of the Great Hall was silent.

As John sat, he scratched one of his ears nervously, pulling on dark hair as he did so. He had refused to get a haircut before he left for Hogwarts, so it was longer than it normally was.

Slytherin, huh? He didn't know much about the house—his only information coming from a few books—but he knew that they valued ambition, cunning, and tradition. A decade or two ago, the house would also have valued blood purity but if the Sorting Hat was willing to sort him, a muggleborn, into the house, things probably had changed slightly.

As the Sorting continued, a second year nudged John with an elbow.

"Hey, are you the son of Harry Potter?" she asked. John sighed.

"No," he said firmly. "And there's no connection whatsoever."

"But the name—"

"No."

"You look kind of like him."

"Trust me," John said flatly. "We're not related."

Trying to make it clear that he wouldn't answer anymore similar questions, John turned his attention to the Sorting just as a girl named Molly Richardson was called up. He joined his new housemates in clapping when she was Sorted into Slytherin.

Giving a nervous smile, the girl sat down in the space next to John. As she tried to get settled, some of her uncontrollable red hair flew into John's face.

"Hello," she said after a few seconds, turning towards him. "I'm Molly."

"John," came the reply. "I think we saw each other on the train."

In fact, John remembered seeing her on the train. He had nearly asked to share a compartment with her before he had run into one of his primary school classmates, Salma. Then he had been distracted with catching up with her. It had been better to sit with someone he knew than a complete stranger.

Salma had been Sorted into Hufflepuff a few minutes earlier. She hadn't seemed surprised, as she had admitted on the train that her mother had been in Hufflepuff back when she was at Hogwarts.

Molly blushed faintly. "Sorry," she said. "I don't remember."

John waved the apology away. After all, it wasn't like they had actually talked before. The only reason he remembered seeing her was because he hadn't know someone could have red hair that bright or messy before seeing Molly.

Once the Sorting was complete and the feast began, John could no longer avoid the questions.

"Are you Harry Potter's son?"

"Are you completely sure that you're not related?"

"But you _have_ to be Harry Potter's child! You have the same name as him."

After nearly fifteen minutes of being badgered every time he tried to lift food to his mouth, John set his eating utensils down with a clatter and glared at every member of his house.

"I'm going to say this one last time and anyone who asks again will be hexed as soon as I learn a decent one. I am _not_ the son of Harry Potter, nor related to him in any way. There's also no chance that I could be related to him. Both of my parents are muggles and had never heard of magic or Hogwarts before I received my letter. And no, I'm not adopted so I couldn't be an illegitimate child of his either. Believe it or not, Potter is a pretty common name in the muggle world."

Molly was silently laughing when John finished his rant.

"If you're that irritated this soon, I can't wait to see what the rest of the year will be like," she said. "There's bound to be people who won't believe you, no matter what you say. Especially with the rumors that have been flying around all week."

"If those rumors were true, there would have been a second Potter called up during the Sorting," John grumbled. "I almost wish that they _were_ true so that they were hassled and not me."

"It wouldn't have been such a big deal if Harry Potter hadn't just vanished a few years after the war ended. If he hadn't just up and disappeared, the wizarding world would have known everything that happened in his life and wouldn't have to speculate," a third year sitting across the table stated.

"Maybe that's why he disappeared," another third year sitting next to her said. "So everyone didn't know everything about his life."

"I heard that he went on an long-term undercover mission for the Aurors," someone commented.

"Don't be ridiculous, Annabelle. He couldn't have stayed undercover for over ten years. Someone would have recognized him by now."

"My parents said that he went into hiding because some Death Eaters were still after him."

"He defeated Voldemort. I don't think he would need to hide from some Death Eaters."

As debate broke out about what actually happened to Harry Potter when he disappeared thirteen years ago, Molly sighed and turned her attention to John.

"Do you have any siblings?" she asked. "I have three younger ones—two brothers and a sister. My brothers are twins and are currently eight. My sister is seven. They can't wait to start Hogwarts."

"I have a sister who's nine," John informed her. "She'll be coming to Hogwarts as well when she's old enough. My parents had her tested for magic when the Ministry representative stopped by our house to take us to Diagon Alley. What are your parents, by the way? Did they know about magic?"

Molly shifted in her seat, causing her mess of hair to practically bounce with her movements. "My mum's a muggle," she said, "but my dad's a wizard. He left the wizarding world for the muggle world once he met my mum, only staying in contact with friends and family via owl post."

"Did you grow up knowing about magic?" John asked. Molly laughed as she nodded.

"It's kind of hard not knowing about magic when there's owls flying in the house every day and when all the appliances have to be magically adjusted so they don't explode whenever my dad walks in the room."

John frowned at that. "Magic affects technology?" he asked. "Everything always worked for me at home."

"It starts happening when we get older," Molly explained. "When we start using it more frequently. Dad always thought that part of the reason there's a restriction on the use of underage magic is so we don't cost our parents a fortune in replacing things like toasters or television sets. If we don't use it in the summers, then we aren't using it frequently enough for technology and electronics to be affected by magic. So what do your parents do?"

"My mum's a programmer while my dad's an electrician," John said.

"Programmer?" Molly asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

"She works with computers," John explained further. "What do your parents do?"

"My mum's a lawyer," Molly replied. "Dad stays at home and takes care of my siblings."

"Must be nice," John said, thinking of the hours his dad worked. William Potter worked more than most people with office jobs did and sometimes he felt like he rarely saw his father.

"At times," Molly agreed.

That first night saw John and Molly becoming quick friends. Their relationship solidified further when John found Molly waiting for him to go to breakfast the next morning.

During the first day of classes, John learned that it wasn't just the students who would ask if he was related to Harry Potter. The professors did as well. During their second class, John noticed that Molly had actually taken to marking down how many times someone asked him if he was the Boy-Who-Lived's son or if he was related to the famous Harry Potter in any way. It initially irritated him that she was taking enjoyment in his frustration but after a few days, he learned to find amusement in her actions. The sheer number of tallies she had on the parchment never ceased to amaze him later on in the year.

When writing home, John tried to keep out his frustrations about the constant questions, not wanting to discourage his sister. Yes, he should probably warn her at some point what to expect but he had two years to do so. Right now, he just wanted her to be excited about her magical abilities.

John used Molly's owl to send letters home when he could—he had chosen to bring a cat to Hogwarts as his pet—but half the time he had to use a school owl as Molly exchanged frequent letters with her family. The day after Halloween, she received one of those letters.

The muggleborn Slytherin had been reviewing his homework that he had to turn in during his first class when her sniffles attracted his attention.

"What's wrong?" he asked nervously.

"My mum," Molly sniffed, trying to hold back tears. "I was going to have another little brother or sister around Christmas time but she had a miscarriage last night."

"I'm sorry," John said awkwardly.

"It's not your fault," Molly said. "It's just that something bad always happens on Halloween. It's like the day is cursed or something."

John held back any sarcastic comments he could have made and instead took Molly to introduce her to Salma. His primary school friend was an only child, partially because her mother had had three miscarriages since Salma's birth. Salma could relate better to Molly than he could right now.

That meeting would be significant to the three wizards and witches later on. Salma and Molly would become close friends, leading to some calling them the Silver Trio.

Salma thought the name was pointless, since it didn't reflect anything about their personalities. Molly was embarrassed by it. John hated it because it was just one more reason for people to ask if he was related to Harry Potter. Apparently he had been a part of something the wizarding community referred to as the Golden Trio.

At the end of their first year, the thought of leaving Hogwarts wasn't as heartbreaking as it could have been. Salma and John could see each other every day if they wanted and they discovered that Molly lived only a few train stops away. They wouldn't be separated for long. The only downer would be not being able to use magic.

John had suggested going to Molly's house to try and get around the rule but the redhead quickly shot his suggestion down.

"We're not supposed to use magic," she said firmly. "So we won't."

"It's not like the Ministry would find out," John argued. "They wouldn't be able to tell the difference between your dad's magic and ours."

"It doesn't matter," Molly said. "If my dad caught us using magic, there would be hell to pay. He's ridiculously paranoid about the use of underage magic. Apparently he was nearly expelled a few times for using it during the summer and he doesn't want that to happen to me or my siblings."

John would have argued further but he had learned throughout the year that if Molly's parents wouldn't approve of something, there was no chance of convincing her to go with his ideas. Her inability to go against her parents' wishes had curbed some of his more wild ambitions, like finding the fabled Chamber of Secrets or sneaking into a professor's office to get exam answers so they could get instant passing grades.

Actually, Salma had shot down both of those ideas as well.

The summer passed quickly. Much of the time was spent split between John and Salma's houses, with Molly coming over frequently. Sometimes she brought her siblings to spend time with John's sister Elizabeth—Jimmy, Rueben, and Minnie were their names, John found out—but most of the time she came alone. Neither Salma nor John noticed that Molly never invited them over to her house.

When John boarded the Hogwarts Express for his second year at Hogwarts, this time when he spotted Molly sitting alone in a compartment, he joined her.

Despite all of the progress John had made during his first year about convincing people that he wasn't related to Harry Potter, he found that he had to do it all over again. The current first years hadn't received the message and so, they were the ones that continued to ask the question on everyone's mind.

John groaned when he made the realization that there was a possibility that he might have to answer these questions anew every year for the first years. He wondered how long it would take for it to become a dare among the first years, seeing who would be brave enough and who wouldn't.

Molly's statement about Halloween being a cursed day rang true once again. Her father had been admitted to the hospital, a victim of an apparent mugging, according to her mother's letter. Reading the letter Molly had passed over to him, John got the feeling that it was more than a simple mugging.

The same day Molly received the letter explaining what had happened during Halloween night, the Daily Prophet reported that two Death Eaters had been found and apprehended in muggle London and that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement owed deep thanks to Harry Potter for helping catch them.

The article created quite an uproar, as it was the first official news that the wizarding world had that clarified that Harry Potter was still alive and active in their community in over a decade.

Despite the small uproar about Harry Potter, John, Salma, and Molly's second year passed just as calmly as their first. Molly once remarked that her parents were ecstatic that nothing exciting was happening during her years at Hogwarts.

"Between all of the events my father had to deal with when he was at Hogwarts, that was his greatest wish for me," she said. "I don't understand why, though. I could do with a bit of excitement."

"What happened when he was here?" Salma asked. They were eating lunch down in the kitchens, where they didn't have to worry about sitting at house tables. Despite the progress Hogwarts had made since the war, it was still frowned upon to sit anywhere other than your house table while in the Great Hall.

"The Chamber of Secrets debacle, dealing with dementors all year round, the Triwizard Tournament…" Molly listed off. "Just to name a few."

"So your father was in Hogwarts when Harry Potter was around?" Salma asked, leaning forward. "And met him? Has he said what he was like?"

A smirk formed on Molly's lips. "A bit of a tosser, really. His words, not mine."

John and Salma laughed at that.

The bonds that the trio formed during their first and second year became more important in the next few years. Once third year hit, things began to change. The students in their year started becoming less excited about magic and began noticing the more minor things.

The Silver Trio—they were still being called that and had resigned themselves to bearing that nickname until they graduated—had picked the same electives so they could spend more classes together. Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes were the most logical choices for them. Molly was adamant about staying away from Divination and neither Salma nor John would benefit from the Muggle Studies class. Salma went an extra step and signed up for Arithmancy, since she was never one to enjoy a free period. She would rather be in another class if she could.

John's sister started her first year at Hogwarts during their third year. John was thankful that she was Sorted into Hufflepuff, where Salma could keep an eye on her and let him know if she was getting homesick.

"She's been getting a lot of the same questions that you did first year," Salma informed him less than a week into term. "It seems that the first and second years didn't quite believe you when you told them you weren't related to Harry Potter. A few of the older students have been asking as well."

"Just from Hufflepuff?" John asked. Salma shook her head.

"All of the other houses, except for Slytherin," she corrected. "It seems that quite a few students thought you weren't approachable since you'd been sorted into Slytherin. Since your sister is in Hufflepuff, they see her as friendlier and more likely to admit to things."

John scowled at that. He didn't like the thought of others harassing his sister just because of the house she had been sorted into.

"Tell her that if they really want to know the truth, they should ask me," he told Salma. "And that she has the permission to hex the next person that asks her questions like that."

"She's a first year," Molly said. "She doesn't know any hexes yet. At least, I hope not." She gave John a pointed look but the wizard just shrugged it off.

"No one else knows that," he said. "And besides, her older brother is in Slytherin. There's no telling what I could have taught her."

A few days later, everyone was reminded that the Potter siblings were supposedly muggleborn. John's sister might not have known hexes but she had figured that if her brother had given permission to use magic to get her point across, he had also given her permission to use muggle means.

John had never been prouder when he heard that her sister had punched a Gryffindor in the stomach because he wouldn't stop bothering her with questions about Harry Potter.

A few weeks later it became clear who had taught Elizabeth Potter how and where to punch. John had begun to notice that his name was less important to other Slytherins than his blood status.

"Bloody mudblood," a fifth year had muttered when John had accidentally knocked into his desk, causing ink to spill over his homework and ruining his progress.

Molly had warned him that he might have to deal with comments like this. John had prepared himself and planned the appropriate response. He would show that he was proud of his muggle heritage and that he wouldn't allow it to stop him from achieving great things. Since they had resorted to calling names, John decided that he shouldn't dignify their comments with a magical response. Instead, he punched them and a brawl broke out.

It was almost worth the week's worth of detentions. Almost.

Molly and Salma had been disappointed that he had resorted to physical fighting but didn't lecture him about it. Salma had been called names before and understood the emotions he was feeling. Molly idly mentioned that her father or one of his friends—she couldn't remember who—had done the same during their third year as well.

For the third year in a row, Halloween was a cursed day. They had been in Hogsmeade when an experimental spell went wrong and a store exploded right in front of them. Nearly twenty years since the war and people were still scared that the explosion had been a potential Death Eater attack.

It just went to show how deep the emotional scars ran in their community.

By the end of third year, John had gotten in more fights than he could count on two hands. Salma had quickly picked up on healing spells to hide the bruises and cuts he picked up, so the fights weren't noticeable to the professors. Other than the first fight, John hadn't been caught.

Much to his dismay, Molly had gotten into a few scrapes as well, defending him when he wasn't in earshot of the slurs being said. Unlike John, she didn't keep her fights within Slytherin house. All of the other houses soon learned that Molly wouldn't put up with any bullying or name-calling, no matter who was involved.

"We shouldn't have to put up with things like this," she said. "When we start labeling people with names like mudblood or even muggleborn, pureblood, and halfblood, we start segmenting our society. No one is better than anyone else. No one should be above or believe they are above others. Lives have been lost to correct that part of our society and I refuse to let their sacrifices be turned into a waste."

Their anti-bullying stance and the reputation they gained during third year was probably beneficial to Salma during her fourth year, when she started wearing the hijab. She was the first to do so at Hogwarts for a few years, so it naturally drew attention. However, with her close friendship with John and Molly being common knowledge, no one said anything too loudly.

Especially not after the first day. The first time someone had come close to being derogatory, the entire school had learned that Salma could hold her own. She wasn't dependent on John Potter and Molly Richardson.

There were some students that believed that the Hufflepuff in the silver trio was more dangerous than the two Slytherins.

Molly's twin brothers started at Hogwarts during that year. Both were Sorted into Gryffindor, much to her dismay.

"They were enough trouble at home," she moaned the moment they were Sorted. "You can't imagine all the trouble they caused. Now it'll just be worse because instead of just Dad encouraging them, they'll have an entire house of students to be encouraged by."

"Are you sure you aren't being overdramatic?" John asked, ignoring a first year that asked him if he was related to Harry Potter in any way. Molly gave him a flat look.

"Watch," she said. "Just wait and see."

Her prediction came true on Halloween, when her twin brothers managed to cause a school wide prank war that landed everyone under fifth year in detention for the night.

Fifth year was brutal for the Trio. The only immediate bright side they saw was Molly's youngest sibling, her sister, started at Hogwarts and had been Sorted into Gryffindor. Molly was thankful that she hadn't been Sorted into Slytherin, not wanting to deal with looking after a younger sibling in her house while studying for O.W.L.s. The reason that fifth year was one of the trio's worst years was because not only was it their year for O.W.L.s but Hogwarts once again decided to host the Triwizard Tournament.

"I don't understand why the British Ministry is so determined to resurrect this tournament!" Molly burst out after she had heard the news. "Doesn't the fact that it was originally stopped because the death toll was too high mean anything to them?"

"I think they're trying to prove that it's not a cursed tournament," Salma pointed out. "They're trying to get rid of the memories of the last Triwizard Tournament, when Voldemort ended up being resurrected. They want to retire it with good memories attached to it, not bad ones."

"My parents are going to be furious," Molly grumbled. "They'll think it's too dangerous."

"Why should they be worried? You're not old enough to enter," John pointed out. Molly shrugged uncomfortably.

"They worry too much," she mumbled. "It's what they do. Dad's more worried about it than Mum is, though. Mum is just mostly worried about how I'll do on my O.W.L.s. She thinks I get distracted too easily."

Thinking about how Molly was caught doodling or writing poetry at least once a week, John and Salma could see why her mother would think that.

Knowing where their thoughts were going, Molly's face turned red to match her hair and she glared at her two friends.

"Not a word," she snapped, holding up her wand in a somewhat threatening manner. Wisely, the other two didn't say anything.

For once, Halloween was looking up during their fifth year. The trio didn't realize until a few months later that the two schools arriving was the Halloween curse.

With the other two schools around and with the foreign students actually sitting in on classes, it was near impossible to focus on the increased amount of schoolwork the fifth and seventh years were receiving. It was bad enough that the students were distracted but in some cases the professors were as well.

The Triwizard Tournament was a blessing in disguise for John. Since he hadn't been chosen as champion—despite being too young to compete in the first place—those that had persistently believed that he was the son of Harry Potter and had ignored John's claims of it not being true began to doubt their convictions. John found that to be a minor triumph.

The first and second tasks had gone well enough. Both of them had taken place on weekends earlier in the year, when the stress of schoolwork and exams wasn't so high for the students.

Like the past Triwizard Tournament, the Yule Ball was hosted for students fourth year and above. Salma and John stayed and ended up going together. Molly and her siblings went home.

Unfortunately for all fifth years, the third task at the end of their O.W.L. examination week. That meant that it was a lot harder to focus on studying when they were all looking forward to what would happen after their exams were complete.

"I'm pretty positive I failed my Transfiguration O.W.L.," Molly said. "I couldn't focus for the life of me."

"I'm sure you did fine," Salma reassured her. "I just hope I got an O on my Potions O.W.L. I need to get into that N.E.W.T. level class if I want to be a healer like my grandmother expects me to be. She was so disappointed when my mum didn't get the necessary scores and now she's putting all of her hopes on me. She wants a doctor or something similar in the family and right now, I'm her only choice."

"I can't believe they called off middle names when they were calling us forward for our practical Defense O.W.L.s," John groaned. "That was humiliating."

"How so?" Molly asked. "What's so bad about Hopkins as a middle name. There's a lot worse out there. Mine's Dora for crying out loud. Molly Dora Richardson. There couldn't be a more cutesy name if you tried.

"My father once had a client named Kandy Kane," John replied. "Trust me, there's worse."

Salma looked between the two, not fully understanding why they were embarrassed over middle names of all things. She was the odd one out, not actually having a middle name.

Their O.W.L. results came during the summer. Molly's owl arrived first, meaning she showed up at John's house just before the other two received their own owls.

"Open them together?" Salma asked once all three of them were together, results in hand. John and Molly nodded. None of them pointed out that all of their hands were shaking as they opened the envelope.

Salma got her O in Potions, as well as nearly all of her other classes. She only got an E in one class and that was History of Magic. John got an O in Transfiguration and E's in everything else except History of Magic. That class he got a T in. Molly passed Transfiguration with an A. She got an O in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, a P in History of Magic, and E's in everything else.

"Not too shabby," she pointed out. "Dad will be happy. Defense was his best class in Hogwarts, despite the terrible professors he always seemed to get."

"I only got an E in Defense," John said proudly. "And a low one at that. Now who can say I'm the son of Harry Potter? Everyone knows he was the best at that subject and I'm just mediocre."

Molly and Salma rolled their eyes.

"I think this whole last name thing is giving you a complex," Molly said. "You haven't stopped trying to prove you aren't related since first year."

"I wouldn't have to prove that I'm not related if people could just understand that Potter is a common name," John pointed out. "Did you know that I've actually received those bloody questions through owl mail? And muggle post sometimes?"

"Yes, we know," Molly said with a fond look. "You show us the letters every time it happens."

"I need witnesses in case it goes any further than just people asking questions. Others should know that I'm being harassed about something that should be quite simple for others to comprehend."

"Don't say stuff like that," Salma warned. "Don't joke about it. What if something actually happens?"

"On September first, it'll be six years since I've entered the wizarding world. If something was going to happen other than the questions, I think they would have done something by now."

How wrong he was.

Like always, there was an opportunity to visit Hogsmeade on the weekend of Halloween. Salma and John were perusing the small shops, enjoying the limited free time they had. It was one of the rare occasions when Molly wasn't with them, having gone on a date instead.

"Did you see the look on her brothers' faces when they saw her leaving the castle with Malfoy?" John snickered. He was referring to Orion Malfoy, the second son of Draco Malfoy. Orion was a year younger than them. "I think they've been hanging out with the Weasley brood too much."

"I think they were just hoping that their sister might fancy a Gryffindor, so they could have a reason to see her more," Salma said, pulling a book from a shelf to examine it. After a few seconds she frowned and put it back. "Did you know she fancied Malfoy?"

"She doesn't. Malfoy fancies her, which Molly has been thinking is the most hilarious thing ever," John explained. "Of course she won't say why, just that her father would be horrified if he ever learned that."

"Molly does like her secrets," Salma agreed. She had long accepted that even though Molly Richardson was one of her best friends, there was a lot that Molly hadn't told them. It wasn't that she tried to keep things from them but rather that she just liked to focus on others than herself. Molly was uncomfortable in the spotlight and talking about herself, while she found other people fascinating.

"I'm going to stop inside the Three Broomsticks," Salma said as they left the shop. "I have to—"

At the blush on her face, John quickly waved her away. Salma was always embarrassed when talking about certain things and he didn't need her to tell him that she was just going to the bathroom.

When Salma came back, John was nowhere in sight. The Hufflepuff witch frowned and her eyes widened when she spotted his bags lying on the sidewalk. Something was wrong. John would never leave his things unattended.

Salma drew out her wand.

"Point me, John Potter," she whispered, trying not to draw attention to herself.

Salma followed the direction her wand led her until she realized she was being led to the Shrieking Shack. Something about this whole situation rubbed her the wrong way.

"Let's hope nothing happens," Salma said as she went to find help.

John groaned as someone jabbed him with their wand. Looking around, he discovered that he was in an empty, rotting room. Clearly the building he was in hadn't been used for quite some time. Years, if not decades.

"I would have guessed that the son of Harry Potter would have known how to throw off the Imperius curse. But since you didn't, it made things easier in the long run. This way you didn't draw a scene when we caught you."

John sighed and that was when he realized that his arms and legs were bound. If his captors had used the Imperius curse, there was a strong chance that he had walked into the building by himself and just sat there while he was tied up.

Well, that was embarrassing.

"I'm guessing you don't have a kid that attends Hogwarts," he drawled. "Because if you did, you would already know that I'm not the son of Harry Potter. I'm a muggleborn and Potter just happens to be a common name."

"I've heard about your protests," his captor said, crouching in front of him. John didn't know the wizard, just that he was older—middle-aged at the youngest—and that there was a mad glint in his eyes. "But it seems to me that someone who goes out of their way to make it known that they aren't who everyone thinks they are is actually the person who everyone thinks they are."

John stared at the wizard incredulously.

"That makes no sense whatsoever," he said. The wizard laughed and John cringed when it sounded maniacal.

"I think the saying goes, 'I think thou dost protest too much'," his captor said.

"'The Lady doth protest too much, methinks'," John corrected. "I'm a bit insulted. You got the quote wrong. If you're going to quote something, at least do your homework and get it right."

Apparently his comments weren't appreciated, because the next thing John knew, he had been backhanded. Blood trickled into his mouth from a split lip.

"Who are you?" John asked.

"It doesn't matter," the wizard said. "You'll learn my name soon enough, when your father comes to save you and I kill him. Then I'll forever go down in history as the man who revenged the Dark Lord and killed Harry Potter."

"It's not going to happen," John said. "He won't come for me, mostly because he has no idea who I am. My father's a muggle and an electrician, so he'd probably call the police instead of coming to save me himself—if he even discovered I was missing in the first place. Honestly, I think there's a good chance that I'll be able to escape on my own, without anyone being the wiser."

"You remind me of Potter," the wizard said. "He was always talking back as well. Got him into a lot of trouble. Like father, like son, I guess."

"We're not related," John said. "Never have been and never will be."

His words were ignored.

John's captor kept talking for a few minutes, not leaving the room. It hindered John's escape plans because that meant that he couldn't make a movement with it being seen.

His captor was just starting to rant about how annoying Harry Potter had been while at school when things happened in quick sequence.

"Bombarda!"

As the door was blasted off its hinges, the wizard turned, drawing his wand. Before he could get a spell out, he was incapacitated by two different spells coming from two different wands.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Stupefy!"

As his captor fell to the ground, unconscious, John looked up at his saviors. Molly and Orion were blocking the doorway, having cast the two spells together. Salma was standing off to the side, looking at the door. John had recognized her voice as the one who had blasted the door. Of the three of them, Molly was the only one who seemed completely calm. She strode over to John and started to untie him. She had just finished untying his arms when Salma entered the room and glanced over John.

"What did he do to you?" Salma asked when she spotted his bloody lip. John waited until she had healed it before speaking.

"He must have thought I was talking too much," John said. Salma glared at him and Molly snickered.

"Don't make light of this," Salma said. "Didn't we warn you that something like this might happen?"

"Hopefully it's the only time," John said. "What time is it?"

"An hour until dinner," Orion offered when both girls didn't know.

"We should probably head back to the castle then," John stated. "Before anyone thinks that we're missing."

"You should go see Madam Pomfrey," Salma said as the four students left the Shrieking Shack. Molly had tied up his captor while Salma had been worrying over him. "To make sure nothing else is wrong."

"No!" John protested. "She'll write my parents and I don't want them to worry."

Before they could argue about whether or not he would go to the hospital wing, Orion interrupted them.

"What's going to happen to that person back there?" he asked.

John glanced behind him in surprise. He had completely forgotten about his captor.

"Just leave him there, I guess," he said. "I don't care as long as I don't have to deal with the Ministry. I think they'd tell my parents as well."

"You need to do something," Salma admonished him. "Tell someone."

"I have a plan, so don't worry," John replied flippantly. "I'm going to write to Harry Potter and tell him all about the troubles he's caused me. Maybe he can actually do something to make people actually listen."

Molly laughed.

"It won't be that easy," she said. "Haven't you heard? According to Gringotts, he changed his name. Even the Weasley family doesn't know what it's been changed to. Any mail addressed to Harry Potter gets directed to a vault, where the goblins go through it and see if there's anything important. Everything else gets burned."

John grimaced. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.

"Well then, Miss Know-It-All, find out what he changed his name to and tell me so I can address the letter appropriately.

Molly laughed again and this time didn't stop laughing until they entered Hogwarts.

After that Halloween weekend, things went smoothly for the rest of sixth year and the following summer. Seventh year was their most boring year by far, with the exception of Halloween like always. That Halloween was the day when Molly's father discovered that she was officially dating Orion Malfoy from her two brothers.

"At least it took them a year to catch on," John told her when she slumped next to him, humiliated by the letter she had received, filled with warnings and other information concerning the more personal and intimate sides of being in a relationship. "If it was my sister, my parents would have known the day of. Remember when she caught me snogging that Ravenclaw girl?"

"Her name was Lea," Molly muttered. "Lea Patil. At least try to remember their names. There's only been three."

"Still, it could have been much worse. He could have sent a Howler."

"My father wouldn't have done that," Molly said. "He's not thrilled that Orion's a Malfoy but he's not overly upset. He never gets upset with me."

John settled into eat when he caught Molly looking at him with amusement.

"What?" he finally asked after the looks got annoying. Molly nudged Orion, who was sitting on her other side and pulled the letter out of his hands.

"Orion mentioned your surname in his last letter home," she said. "His father is demanding to know if he's befriended a Potter."

John groaned. Orion smirked and Molly laughed.

"It's not funny!" he said. "Seriously, it's been seven years. Haven't people caught on?"

"I'm going to tell him yes," Orion said. John glared at him. "What? It's technically true."

John really hated his friends at that moment.

Before they knew it, it was the end of the term and John, Molly, and Salma were taking their N.E.W.T.s. Salma was the most focused on them, as she had been accepted into the St. Mungo's healing program, contingent on her passing all of her N.E.W.T.s with Exceeds Expectations. Molly wasn't as concerned, as she had plans to attend a muggle university in the fall. John was the only one that had no idea what he was doing after he left Hogwarts.

"You should seriously think about this stuff," Molly admonished as they left their final exam. "Don't you want to be a productive member of society?"

"I think I'll travel," John said, in a light-hearted tone. "Maybe abroad I won't have to constantly tell people that I'm not the son of Harry Potter. I don't think he's quite as popular abroad."

"You're ridiculous," Molly muttered.

"Are your parents coming to the commencement celebration?" John asked, changing the subject. Since his parents were muggles, they couldn't come as the celebration was held at Hogwarts.

"My father is," Molly said in a dull tone. "My mother is in court that day, not like she could come anyway—since she's a muggle."

"Do you mean I'll finally get to meet your father?" John asked. "After seven long years?"

"You could have met him at any point during the summers," Molly said. "He was always home. You just never came over."

"Because you never let us," Salma said, pushing her way between Molly and John and taking the lead, directing them outside. "I don't think you've ever told us your address."

Molly laughed in an embarrassed manner. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "I guess I never realized. It was just easier to come over to your places since you don't have siblings running around."

"Elizabeth," John reminded her. Molly frowned.

"You can never tell she's around, though," she said. "She's not constantly underfoot like my brothers and Minnie are."

"I can't wait to meet your father," John said wickedly. "And tell him all about what you and Orion get up to."

Molly hit him.

A week later, it was time for the commencement celebration. There was no walking across a stage or ceremonies of any kind. It was just a simple picnic-like party that parents had been invited to attend.

John was hanging around Salma and her mother when Molly made her appearance. Her red hair made her easy to spot in the crowd. She was tugging behind her a middle-aged man with messy black hair and green eyes hidden behind glasses. As they moved through the crowd, a few of the other parents stared at them in disbelief.

"Hi," Molly said. "This is my dad—Harry Richardson."

After staring at the scar on Molly's dad's forehead, John glared at his long-time friend.

"Who was formerly Harry Potter?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

"I took my wife's name," Harry confirmed, looking at his daughter amused. "I take it Molly never told anyone?"

"Neither did her siblings," Salma said as John continued to glare at Molly, who was grinning widely.

"We wanted to see how long it would take for people to catch on," Molly said. "I guess they just never caught on. I should really thank you, John. Since everyone was thinking that you were the mysterious Potter child, they never considered that I was the actual daughter of Harry Potter. I had been dreading that the most when I boarded the train. I know it made your life hell but…" Molly trailed off.

"You should probably start running," Salma told her friend. Taking a look at the expression on John's face, Molly agreed and took off. A few seconds later, John followed.

"MOLLY RICHARDSON, YOU GET BACK HERE!" John shouted as he chased after his friend. "YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!"


End file.
